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yourlibrarian

1)

Went to the Farmer's Market and got some lovely flowers this weekend. It does not allow dogs, so I did a double take when I passed this guy. When I asked if I could take his dog's picture, he said he gets that question a lot!

2) "In the month after a new best seller is published, the company finds, on average, more than 5,000 individual instances of pirated A.I. versions on various online platforms, a Vermillio spokesman said. Those pirated A.I. editions, the company found, can collectively draw more than 200,000 streams — meaning a substantial online audience is consuming the audiobooks for free." ( Read more... )

3) I was thrilled to see the topic of this piece on fandom because it's something I think should have been examined well before now, but has often either not been framed this way, or isn't discussed at all -- which is how fans examine canon works and how this relates to a consumer mentality.

That said, there are some things that went askew in the discussion. ( Read more... )

Poll #34648 Kudos Footer-579

This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6

Want to leave a Kudos?

Kudos!
6 (100.0%)

Intro/FAQ

My check in: I deleted about a 1000 words and have written about 800 to replace them, maybe more because I've done more rewriting to make the plot fit the time line better. Which then changes some of the plot which I'm not finished changing, but am too tired to keep working on tonight.

PLEASE If I make a mistake and don't count you on a day, please let me know.

Day 24

sanguinity,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

ysilme,

china_shop,

sylvanwitch

Day 23

sanguinity,

the_siobhan,

china_shop,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

cornerofmadness,

ysilme

Day 22

carenejeans,

sylvanwitch,

ysilme,

badly_knitted,

the_siobhan,

sanguinity,

china_shop

Day 21

badly_knitted,

sanguinity,

the_siobhan,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

ysilme,

Day 20

china_shop,

ofmonstrouswords,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

cornerofmadness,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

carenejeans,

the_siobhan

Day 19

china_shop,

ysilme,

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

ofmonstrouswords

Day 18

ysilme,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

sanguinity

Day 17

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

carenejeans,

badly_knitted,

ofmonstrouswords,

sylvanwitch,

ysilme,

china_shop,

the_siobhan

Day 16

china_shop,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

badly_knitted,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

cornerofmadness,

ofmonstrouswords

Icon Dragon flying over a peaceful forest with a destination in sight.

Current Mood: content
Current Location: Home
Current Music: "Crush, Crush, Crush" Paramour

Tell me one of the three following, and I will reciprocate:

1. A favorite fandom with what calls you to it
2. A favorite character and why they get your love
3. A song that you have strong positive feelings about

malinaldarose

I have photos from my June desk calendar!

And a close-up on the collage from the first week because I'm just so please with it:

malinaldarose

It is 48° this morning and supposed to get up to 66°. It's also supposed to maybe rain? I am debating the possibility of going out to mow. I don't want to mow; I hate mowing. So I'm kind of hoping for rain, so I don't have to. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, but it's also supposed to be much, much warmer, so I don't want to mow tomorrow, either.

Yesterday, it rained for a good chunk of the day. I went out and got groceries early, and, because I felt like something nice for breakfast, went across town to the Other Grocery Store, because they have a better bakery. I over-indulged, because of course I did. I came home with a bag full of baked goods. Mmmmm, carbs.

After that, though, I was at a bit of a loss, because my next task should have been laundry, but it was already done. I should then have moved on to some other chore, but...I did not. I sat down at my desk and indulged in some of the fresh baked goods, then read fic or watched YouTube videos until it was nearly time for Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, then discovered that it wasn't playing yesterday, which was annoying. So I went to the website and listened to a couple of older episodes while working on the June pages in my journal. I thought a couple of them were really cute and a couple of them were okay. They involve pastel backgrounds and some black cat stickers that I am pretty sure I got from The Washi Tape Shop. It took me two hours to get through that, but that was partly because the first one took extra time because I colored the background instead of using stickers or papers or washi tape. I wised up for the second one, though, and used washi tape. I took some photos, mostly because I really was proud of how well the first page matched my vision for it.

By that time, Parker was making a nuisance of himself, so I let him bully me to the couch for a nap. Tegan joined us and we made one big, snoozy pile. Naps are your friend.

Speaking of napping and cats, I caught Tegan lounging in one of the soft cavey things yesterday. Just when I think I know her....

Oh, and she has eaten in the kitchen the last couple of days, even with Parker shoving his head into the same bowl.

* insert shrug emoticon here *

I read last night (I am now rereading Platform Decay), then did some writing, then read some more.

So...I want to say that I accomplished nothing yesterday, but that's not quite true. I made art (sort of), I caught up on my favorite radio program, I read, and I wrote. And I served as the warm base for a kitty nap, which is, after all, my purpose in life. Other than the ability to open cans for them, of course.

Current Mood: okay

Intro/FAQ

My check in: I've been time-lining like a mad person but think I *might* have managed to make the plot work within the timelines which feels like a lovely relief and after hours of mind boggling list making and plot scrambling and thinking and rethinking how to make it work with all of these characters traveling in different kinds of transportations in different parts of the world nine hours apart.

And I wrote about 700 words in addition to rewriting and rearranging bunch of paragraphs. Brain is tired.

PLEASE If I make a mistake and don't count you on a day, please let me know.

Day 23

sanguinity,

the_siobhan,

china_shop,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

cornerofmadness,

Day 22

carenejeans,

sylvanwitch,

ysilme,

badly_knitted,

the_siobhan,

sanguinity,

china_shop

Day 21

badly_knitted,

sanguinity,

the_siobhan,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

ysilme,

Day 20

china_shop,

ofmonstrouswords,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

cornerofmadness,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

carenejeans,

the_siobhan

Day 19

china_shop,

ysilme,

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

ofmonstrouswords

Day 18

ysilme,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

sanguinity

Day 17

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

carenejeans,

badly_knitted,

ofmonstrouswords,

sylvanwitch,

ysilme,

china_shop,

the_siobhan

Day 16

china_shop,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

badly_knitted,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

cornerofmadness,

ofmonstrouswords

Icon is a dragon flying in what I think are high winds over a choppy ocean

Current Mood: satisfied
Current Location: Home
Current Music: "Closer" The Chainsmokers

Tell me a favorite trope you have, and I will tell you if I embrace it, reject it, or subvert it... and possibly why.

brightknightie

Disney/Marvel has renewed Wonder Man for a second season! Here's the Variety article.

I'm excited. I found Wonder Man objectively the best-crafted Marvel TV since WandaVision, with Loki its only real competition. It's a story of the daring of friendship and of becoming a better version of yourself. Somehow, the corporate bosses actually let Cretton and Guest seize on the angle of a super-powered protagonist living an ordinary life in the MCU. There's no fuss here about street level vs cosmic level storytelling, multiverses, or macguffins. This tale is of two actors at different points in their lives. One happens to have superpowers (up-and-comer Simon Williams, played by Yahya Abdul Mateen II) and one was once hired to play a supervillain (washed-up Trevor Slattery, played by Ben Kingsley).

Of course I went in with my head full of comics canon (so much canon), but happily all of that was exquisitely reimagined and rendered gently moot. TV viewers need never know any of it, yet comics readers were not disrespected for knowing and caring about it. Delicate work skillfully done by this creative team.

feurioo posting in

Assortment of black and white speech bubbles

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?

fkficfest is running again this year!

details here with the pool of prompts.

I've played off and on since 2010, it looks like. Here's what I've done over the years.

2010: Trials of Conscience
2011: To Not Be Alone
2015: Family from the Ashes

2016: Encounter in the Hills
2017: Flicker of a Memory
2018: A Night's Work

2021: Difficult Lesson
2021: Crisis Response
2021: What He Is

2022: Any Regrets?
2024: To Say Goodbye

Intro/FAQ

My check in: I spent hours today working out a timeline and rewriting extensively in previous chapters to make them work such that they are congruent with the timeline. So I wrote a lot of words and took a lot of notes.

PLEASE If I make a mistake and don't count you on a day, please let me know.

Day 22

carenejeans,

sylvanwitch,

ysilme,

badly_knitted,

the_siobhan,

sanguinity,

cornerofmadness

Day 21

badly_knitted,

sanguinity,

the_siobhan,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

ysilme,

cornerofmadness

Day 20

china_shop,

ofmonstrouswords,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

cornerofmadness,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

carenejeans,

the_siobhan

Day 19

china_shop,

ysilme,

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

ofmonstrouswords

Day 18

ysilme,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

sanguinity

Day 17

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

carenejeans,

badly_knitted,

ofmonstrouswords,

sylvanwitch,

ysilme,

china_shop,

the_siobhan

Day 16

china_shop,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

badly_knitted,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

cornerofmadness,

ofmonstrouswords

Icon is the Witcher on what seems to be a long journey with a destination in sight.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: home
Current Music: Winged Hussars Sabaton

Comment with the name of a woman character (in any show, movie, book, comic, etc that you think I'm familiar with) and I'll tell you one thing I love about her. In return, you can do the same in your journal (if you like!).

brightknightie

I recently bumped into the information that Penguin Classics had been using the Arthur Waley abridged translation (1942) of The Journey to the West right up until the Julia Lovell abridged translation (2021). This startled me. It shouldn't have. What could they have used instead? It was Waley or nothing in English until the '80s. And the two translations from the '80s (Yu and Jenner) are unabridged. JttW is approximately the same length as The Lord of the Rings. Anthony Yu did abridge his own translation in 2006! But Yu is a challenging read, not least because his meticulously-faithful-to-the-original paragraphing (no breaks when different characters speak) gets exhausting.

As you may know, The Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en (1592) is a masterpiece of Chinese literature and the source of loads of tropes in all media. (Look behind the waterfall? JttW.) To oversimplify, think of it as: the Homeric epics, Le Morte d'Arthur, and The Faerie Queene rolled into one by Douglas Adams. Or recognize it in Dragonball Z, Lego Monkie Kid, Black Myth Wukong... Watch the delightful Overly Sarcastic Productions retelling.

Arthur Waley's 1942 abridgement introduced the English-speaking world to JttW. While highly entertaining and accessible, it treated the text exclusively as a collection of folktales, deliberately omitting the theology, philosophy, and politics. He gave us the indelible, beloved English names Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy for the iconic characters, names which are simultaneously perfect and severe misrepresentations. I gather that Waley did this sincerely, not ignorantly or oppressively; he was consciously modernist and following the lead of Chinese scholars of his day, but... ouch! Arriving at Waley from this end of history makes for some cringing.

So, yay, Julia Lovell's lovely abridged translation for our era, and yay, Penguin Classics for getting it into more people's hands and imaginations. (See it on Amazon.)

For All Mankind: In which the scriptwriting duo Weddle & Thompson, who first made their name on the later seasons of DS9 and were subsequently recruited by Ron Moore for BSG now script For all Mankind: War Against Your Population Is Fucked Up, the episode.

( Spoilers also spend some time continuing the quest for life, of course )

The Testaments 1.09: Marat/Sade .

This was really the title of the episode, I kid you not. Being a theatre and a French Revolution nerd sometimes really pays off.

( Spoilers were raised in a society which loves their Old Testament Style vengeance )

Current Mood: pensive
Current Location: Bamberg

Intro/FAQ

My check in: I wrote more than a few sentences and suddenly realized that I have to coordinate time lines between two groups of characters. One group in on a yacht moving from Seattle area to LA. The other group is in Paris and has to fly and arrive in LA and not long after traveling long distances to get from SF to Paris to begin with. Or some of them later coming from Seattle to Paris.

So, I'm in the middle of trying to integrate the time line of what is happening in each group to move the plot along in a reasonable time frame for each and figure out how fast a yacht can get to LA and how quickly one can rent a private plane to get from Paris to LA and what can be determined about the location of the boat via satellite tracking systems--enough of explaining it--my brain is worn out and I cannot do it anymore--and I'm going to have to rewrite some of what I've written because the time line is all wrong for what I wrote.

Whew

I keep forgetting to say: PLEASE If I make a mistake and don't count you on a day, please let me know.

Day 21

badly_knitted,

sanguinity,

the_siobhan,

sylvanwitch

Day 20

china_shop,

ofmonstrouswords,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

cornerofmadness,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

carenejeans,

the_siobhan

Day 19

china_shop,

ysilme,

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

ofmonstrouswords

Day 18

ysilme,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

sanguinity

Day 17

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

carenejeans,

badly_knitted,

ofmonstrouswords,

sylvanwitch,

ysilme,

china_shop,

the_siobhan

Day 16

china_shop,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

badly_knitted,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

cornerofmadness,

ofmonstrouswords

Icon is Methos being amused that my brain is fried.

Current Mood: brain dead
Current Location: home
Current Music: none

This time on The Starlost, this whole thing smacks of gender. Spoilers within.

( My mama told me I should never leave the biosphere/But I did, I did, I did )

osprey_archer

I finished my 2017 Reading List, and while it might seem like the path of wisdom to complete my 2018 and 2019 reading lists before I start another… Well, I like to have a lot of reading lists going at once.

So without further ado! The 2020 reading list!

Laura Amy Schlitz - The Winter of the Dollhouse (Schlitz’s newest book. Very excited about this one!)

Elizabeth Goudge - The Valley of Song (per

sovay’s recommendation)

Vivien Alcock - not sure what to read next for Alcock. I’ve read everything from the local libraries, so whatever it is will come through ILL. Leaning toward The Sylvia Game just because I like the title.

William Dean Howells - An Imperative Duty

Roald Dahl - The Witches (I tried this book as a child and gave up because it was scary. Time to try again!)

Sveltana Alexievich - Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War

Ruth Reichl - My Kitchen Year (I’m also tempted to try Reichl’s fiction. Has anyone read Delicious! or The Paris Novel?)

James Baldwin - The Evidence of Things Not Seen (pace

troisoiseaux's rec)

Gerald Durrell

Llinos Cathryn Thomas - All Is Bright (this is an Advent calendar book so I will of course be saving it for December)

E. F. Benson - Miss Mapp

Nadezhda Mandelstam - Hope Against Hope (this poor book has languished on my ILL list since FOREVER.)

Mary Renault - The Praise Singer

Charles Dickens - haven’t decided which one yet. Should I take another crack at Bleak House? Attempt The Pickwick Papers? Make the acquaintance of Mr. Gradgrind in Hard Times?

Gene Stratton Porter - The Keeper of the Bees

Intro/FAQ

My check in: 468 words today. Story planning with my other beta and helping her plan one of her stories.

I keep forgetting to say: PLEASE If I make a mistake and don't count you on a day, please let me know.

Day 20

china_shop,

ofmonstrouswords,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

cornerofmadness,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

carenejeans

Day 19

china_shop,

ysilme,

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

ofmonstrouswords

Day 18

ysilme,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

sanguinity

Day 17

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

carenejeans,

badly_knitted,

ofmonstrouswords,

sylvanwitch,

ysilme,

china_shop,

the_siobhan

Day 16

china_shop,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

badly_knitted,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

cornerofmadness,

ofmonstrouswords

Icon is the Witcher riding through a peaceful forest.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Home
Current Music: None

osprey_archer

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

Ever since The Colt from Moon Mountain, I’ve been plundering the archive’s collection of Dorothy P. Lathrop books. The latest was Presents for Lupe, which alas does not feature a surprise unicorn, but does center on an adorable South American red squirrel. The twins John and Joan have just brought her home from the pet shop, and put her in a much larger and more comfortable cage, and give her seeds of all kinds… but when she still seems sad and anxious, family and friends start sending them all sorts of things from South America, until at last a present arrives that makes Lupe feel at home.

This book was published in 1940, and seems to be part of a more general wave of American children’s books about Central and South America. I have no proof that this was inspired by Franklin Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy, but the timing seems suggestive.

What I’m Reading Now

Simon Sebag Montefiore’s brick The Romanovs: 1613-1918, a mammoth work that took over my life for the past week and bids fair to take over it next week too. I’ve made it to Catherine the Great, which may mean that no one else is going to be impaled? (Not holding my breath on this.) Catherine the Great and her long-time lover Grigory Potemkin refer to each other as Matushka and Batushka/Batinka (Mama and Papa, basically), and also have their younger lovers refer to them as a unit in the same way. That’s one way to do polyamory and/or found family I guess!

Catherine the Great’s actual son Paul just had a nervous breakdown because Catherine suggested that he should go on a tour of Europe and then Paul’s tutor/advisor was like “Hey, you know that time that Peter the Great’s son Alexei ran away to Italy, and then Peter lured him back and killed him? Possibly with his own two hands like how Ivan the Terrible killed HIS son? Makes you think!”

What I Plan to Read Next

I may take a break from The Romanovs to read Michiko Aoyama’s What You Are Looking For Is in the Library as a light and breezy palate cleanser.

Intro/FAQ

My check in: I had a long conference with one of my two beta readers today and started working on the changes he asked for back in chapter 6 which I had just gotten back from him. Got some clarity about what his comments meant about flow and beats and tension. Did some editing and rewriting in chapter 8 and wrote maybe two or three more sentences. It was my longest work day today. Clients almost every hour. Some with difficult issues to process. A lot of work done, but no way to even estimate word count.

Day 19

china_shop,

ysilme,

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans

Day 18

ysilme,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

sanguinity

Day 17

cornerofmadness,

sanguinity,

carenejeans,

badly_knitted,

ofmonstrouswords,

sylvanwitch,

ysilme,

china_shop,

the_siobhan

Day 16

china_shop,

the_siobhan,

badly_knitted,

badly_knitted,

ysilme,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

carenejeans,

cornerofmadness,

ofmonstrouswords

Icon is Keith Richards seemingly either saying something to Charlie Watts while performing or kissing him on the neck (which is unlikely). Because I love the way Keith moves all the stage keeping everyone playing on beat and directing the music. Kinda like a beta reader for how the performance is going.

Current Location: Home
Current Music: "Walpurgisnacht" Faun

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annavere

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